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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 USUN NEW YORK 001161 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IO/HS, INR/CYBER, EEB 
NSC FOR M.FROMAN, S.POWER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR D. SHACKLEFORD 
TREASURY FOR OIA/IDP: J.HURLEY, R.BAYLY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ETRD SENV UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA SECOND COMMITTEE - U.S. PROMOTES 
CYBERSECURITY AND LEGAL EMPOWERMENT FOR POOR, CONSENSUS ON 
KEY DEVELOPMENT ISSUES 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) The UN General Assembly completed action December 24 
on the last of the 46 draft resolutions and decisions for the 
2009 session of the Second (Economic and Financial) 
Committee, notably achieving consensus results on all but 
six.  USUN approached the committee's work with intensified 
engagement, particularly with developing country delegations, 
and achieved some notable successes, including the adoption 
of a U.S.-sponsored resolution on cybersecurity.  U.S. 
diplomacy was key in making progress on difficult 
macroeconomic resolutions and winning adoption of our 
co-sponsored resolution on "Legal Empowerment of the Poor." 
Overall, we succeeded in reducing the number of voted 
resolutions in which the U.S. was in a small minority 
relative to the past 2-4 years.  Despite the U.S. 
contribution to an improved atmosphere in the 2nd Committee, 
fractiousness within the large G77 bloc of developing states 
significantly delayed the work of the Committee, a trend that 
is likely to continue.  Looking to the new year, USUN is 
already working with inter-agency partners in advance of the 
September 2010 three-day High-Level UN Event on the 
Millennium Development Goals.  End summary. 
 
-------------- 
A Busy Session 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Second Committee (2C) in the 64th General 
Assembly, in taking action on 44 documents (in addition to 
several oral decisions), matched historic high workloads 
reached previously only in the 60th and 57th General 
Assemblies.  In keeping with the Committee's prevailing 
culture, all but six of the resolutions and decisions were 
adopted by consensus, with the U.S. opposing or abstaining on 
five of those six voted documents.  The U.S. was in a small 
minority on just three votes, which is consistent with 
overall numbers from the past 13 years, but sharply reduced 
from our record 2-4 years ago (in the 60th session, for 
instance, the U.S. was in a small minority on 10 votes in the 
2nd Committee).  The General Assembly adopted the bulk of 
this year's 2C resolutions on December 21, and adopted the 
final two resolutions in the early morning hours of December 
¶24. 
 
¶3. (U) The U.S. continued to oppose the perennially voted and 
unbalanced resolutions on "Permanent Sovereignty of the 
Palestinian People over Natural Resources" (8 other states 
voted "no"), "Oil Slick on Lebanese Shores" (7 other states 
joined us in opposing), and "Unilateral Coercive Economic 
Measures" (2 other states also voted "no"), and we joined 46 
other developed states in also opposing the "Trade" 
resolution and abstained with 49 others on the 
Cuban-sponsored "New International Economic Order" 
resolution.  With negotiations on most resolutions beginning 
unusually late in the session, USUN was stretched to the 
maximum in handling this number of negotiations in such a 
short timeframe, and could not have succeeded without 
invaluable TDY support from IO, EEB, and INR/Cyber. 
 
---------- 
Highlights 
---------- 
 
¶4. (U) The 2C resolutions are scattered among a dozen 
different agenda items, mostly falling under the broad 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001161  002 OF 004 
 
 
categories of: sustainable development, macro-economics, 
globalization, poverty, agricultural development, countries 
in special situations, and operational activities.  The more 
notable of these resolutions and negotiations are summarized 
below. 
 
¶5. (U) Cybersecurity: Almost all draft resolutions in the 2C 
are introduced by the G77 group of developing countries, but 
this year the U.S. took the lead in introducing a resolution 
entitled "Creation of a global culture of cybersecurity and 
taking stock of national efforts to protect critical 
information infrastructures," which was adopted by consensus 
on December 21 with the co-sponsorship of a diverse group of 
39 other member states representing nearly every geographic 
group.  The main purpose of this resolution was to 
disseminate a voluntary self-assessment tool that member 
states could use in evaluating their national cybersecurity 
infrastructures, while also inviting states to share best 
practices, noting the vital importance of information systems 
to international trade and development.  The U.S. had last 
sponsored cybersecurity-related resolutions in the 2C in 2002 
and 2003, and this year's effort was led by INR/Cyber in 
keeping with the U.S. Government's renewed focus on the topic. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Legal Empowerment of the Poor: The U.S. joined 70 
other co-sponsors of this resolution, which was first adopted 
in the GA during the 63rd session.  The work of a Commission 
on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, formed under the auspices 
of the UN Development Program and including the participation 
of former Secretary of State Albright, served as the 
resolution's initial inspiration.  Although the draft text 
enjoyed wide co-sponsorship, including among Latin states, it 
came under fire from fringe "Bolivarian" delegations 
(Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba) as well as China and 
Egypt, with the Bolivarians seeking to shift the focus of the 
resolution away from "rule of law" and to an indictment of 
"predatory" capitalism.  When the prospect of a possible 
contested vote on the resolution caused some co-sponsors to 
waver, the U.S. delegation worked successfully with Brazil, 
the EU and other co-sponsors to defend the core elements of 
the resolution.  Just two days before scheduled action on the 
resolution in the 2nd Committee, the Bolivarian opposition 
signaled it would join consensus and other reticent 
delegations quickly followed suit.  In future, however, this 
resolution will be negotiated as a General Assembly plenary 
item rather than within the 2nd Committee.  (Note: Topics 
that do not fit neatly within the subject matter of a single 
Main Committee are often treated as GA Plenary items.  Many 
delegations held the view that the Legal Empowerment of the 
Poor resolution dealt with topics related to three different 
Main Committees of the GA (2nd, 6th and 3rd), and therefore 
decided to place the resolution as a GA Plenary item 
henceforth.  End note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Agricultural Technology for Development: This 
resolution was first adopted two years ago under the primary 
sponsorship of Israel, as part of an effort both to raise the 
profile of a topic highly relevant to ongoing food security 
discussions as well as to raise a non-politicized profile for 
Israel in the 2C.  Although a number of Arab states called a 
vote on the resolution in the 62nd General Assembly, there 
were hopes that it would garner a less politicized reception 
this year, since it was co-sponsored by 89 states (including 
the U.S.).  The U.S. delegation was active in lobbying for 
support, particularly among African delegations. 
Unfortunately, when the 2C took action on the resolution, the 
Arab Group once again called a vote, and the number of states 
abstaining actually grew (primarily because Bolivarian 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001161  003 OF 004 
 
 
delegations joined the Arab Group in abstaining), and the 
number of states voting in favor of the resolution was 13 
fewer (in part due to higher absenteeism, including among 
co-sponsors).  Vote totals improved when the General Assembly 
took action December 21, however, as the resolution was 
adopted by a vote of 146 (U.S.)-1-32.  (Note: While this 
total is similar to the outcome two years ago, four states 
claimed balloting errors that would have changed the vote 
outcome to 143-1-36.  Somalia is the lone delegation that 
voted "no".) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Macroeconomic Issues: The resolution on 
"International Trade and Development" has defied consensus in 
the 2nd Committee since 2003, largely in light of continuing 
north-south divisions that have frustrated efforts to 
complete the Doha round negotiations in the  World Trade 
Organization.  Nevertheless, negotiations on the draft 
resolution in this session had a promising start, with key 
delegations (including the U.S.) demonstrating maximum 
flexibility in order to achieve consensus.  On the final day 
of negotiations, the U.S. proposed a compromise package that 
was endorsed by the EU, Brazil and India.  But a hard-line 
minority of G77 members (led by Egypt) blocked consensus, 
leading once again to a voted resolution.  More moderate G77 
members were successful in working with the EU and the U.S. 
to shape consensus outcomes on other key macroeconomic 
resolutions, including on Debt, Commodities, Financing for 
Development and the International Financial System (IFS). 
The IFS negotiations were the very last to finish in the 2C, 
requiring late-night sessions and high-level lobbying to 
bring to a successful close.  Delegates from a number of 
developing countries praised USUN for its leadership role in 
bridging gaps during the negotiations.  Briefings over recent 
months for UN member states by Deputy National Security 
Advisor Michael Froman on the work of the G20 in addressing 
the global financial crisis paid important dividends in these 
negotiations. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Climate Change, Sustainable Development: The annual 
2C resolution "Protection of global climate for present and 
future generations" broke little new rhetorical or 
substantive ground in the sensitive weeks prior to the UN 
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 7-18), 
despite laborious and divisive negotiations.  The 2C 
nevertheless managed to achieve a consensus outcome, and both 
Secretary-General Ban and GA President Treki expressed their 
appreciation for the late-night negotiations that allowed the 
GA to adopt the resolution on December 7, the first day of 
the Copenhagen Conference.  Another key resolution achieving 
a consensus outcome, entitled "Implementation of Agenda 21," 
set the stage for a United Nations Conference on Sustainable 
Development in 2012 in Brazil, marking the 20th anniversary 
of the Rio "Earth Summit" of 1992.  The U.S. and other WEOG 
members successfully argued that building a "green economy" 
should be a key theme of the 2012 Conference, overcoming 
strong opposition from Russia and G77 members. 
 
------------------------------- 
Fringe Factions Causing Trouble 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Not only did the 2C face a historically high 
workload this year, but it was further burdened by a reduced 
calendar in which to complete its work because of divisions 
within the G77 group of over 130 developing countries and 
China.  The G77 present the first draft of nearly every 
recurring resolution in the 2C, but this year the group 
missed deadlines for the submission of texts--in most cases 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001161  004 OF 004 
 
 
by 2-3 weeks (out of a total negotiation calendar of just 
five weeks).  According to G77 delegates, the Group had 
difficulty coordinating its position on the draft resolutions 
in part because the delegation of Sudan, which currently 
chairs the G77, was left shorthanded by the demands of 
parallel international climate change negotiations leading to 
Copenhagen.  But other key factors were sharp differences 
within the group and a lack of firm leadership to mold 
consensus.  In numerous cases, "fringe" factions (often led 
by Egypt, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia) were as 
troublesome within the G77 as they were in the formal 
negotiations, leading powerful G77 delegations like India and 
Brazil to become exasperated with the antics.  Ultimately, 
G77-originated delays forced the 2nd Committee to conclude 
its work 15 days later than planned, despite a heightened 
tempo of negotiations.  With Yemen taking over the G77 
chairmanship in January for 2010, UN delegates are divided in 
their predictions whether Yemen will face similar or greater 
problems at the G77 helm in the 65th GA, or be able to do 
marginally better.  Among the showcase events of the 65th GA 
will be a 3-day High-Level Event on the Millennium 
Development Goals, as negotiated by the current GA.  USUN is 
already working with inter-agency partners in preparing for 
that high-profile event, which takes place immediately before 
the start of the GA's General Debate in September 2010. 
RICE